[DanBC]

People who use catheters correctly under medical supervision can sometimes run out. Being able to print one seems like a useful function of a 3d printer.

Will printers ever be good enough to print contact lenses?

A printer good enough to print glass lenses would be useful for some areas of the developing world.

[slacka]

People here need to lay off the 3D printing kool aid. The examples of useful things that the Joneses are going to print at home is a joke. I've been working with 3D printers for over a decade now. They are good for 1 thing only.

PROTOTYPING

Even the $500K printers we have at work, can't compete with the quality of mass produced injection molded parts. And some of the ideas people are talking about like home printing medical devices, radios, and other electronics have been watching too much Star Trek.

Over the past 10 years, the printers have gotten better, but they are not following anything close to Moores Law in terms of speed, quality, and cost improvements. In 2 years, we are not going to have Star Trek replicators. In 40-100, maybe. Until that time comes, home 3D printers will only be making cheap plastic junk like figurines.

[bayesianhorse]

Not going to happen. Catheters are probably the worst thing to try and 3d-print.